


Everlong

by emocezi



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 01:05:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12947988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emocezi/pseuds/emocezi
Summary: Cody and Rex crashland on a moon.





	Everlong

Cody wakes slowly. His first thought is pain, though that’s nothing new. It would be a strange situation if he wasn’t in pain. His lungs hurt in the way he’s come to associate with fractured lungs and he takes a deep breath, satisfied when he doesn’t feel anything shifting or any stabbing pains. Fractures only, no bone splinters.

He can deal with that.

He remembers belatedly that Rex was in the front seat of the little two man drop ship and his heartbeat starts to quicken. "Rex?“ His voice is harsh and he coughs, the act of speaking making his throat feel like it’s been rubbed raw.

"Cody?” Rex’s voice is a quiet rasp and he sounds disorientated. "I think we crashed.“

"Yeah.” Cody agrees and carefully undoes the catch of the safety harness that saved his life, even if it battered his ribcage. "We did.“ He gets himself free of the seat and carefully moves through the small space, loose wires sparking dangerously. "Anything broken?”

“Couple of ribs. I think maybe my wrist. Nothing major.” Rex responds and Cody gives the Captain a quick once over. He’s got a nasty cut on his chin that’s dripped a mess of gore over his armor.

“Lets get you out of there.” Cody says and unclips Rex, helping him out of the seat so he can get a better look at the cut.

“Hows it look?”

“It’ll heal.” Cody says and the corner of Rex’s mouth tips up. "Hows it feel?“

"Like shit.” Rex says dryly and Cody offers him a smile, carefully maneuvering them both to the side door of the drop ship.

“Well, you always were jealous of my scar. Now you’ll have one of your own.” Rex snorts and the two of them carefully step out of the ship, looking around at where they crash landed. 

It’s some sort of mountain pass, rocky and barren, though a few hundred meters down there’s some trees and a few bushes with bright spots of colour. There’s a good chance whatever fruit the bushes yield will make them worse off than they are, but if there’s no rescue ships coming, they’ll have to take that chance.

“We stay with the ship for two days.” Cody says, voicing the same thoughts Rex had. "After that, we have to move.“ Rex nods quietly and lets Cody set him down, bracing his back against the durasteel wall of the ship. "Stay here, I’m gonna see if I can find water, maybe some food. I’ll be back before the sun sets.”

“Stay safe.” Rex offers. It’s half a tease and mostly serious. Cody looks at him for a long quiet moment and then nods.

“Always.” He watches Rex for a moment longer, and then starts to carefully make his way down the rocky terrain towards the trees, knowing that if he slips now, he’ll have to make his peace with whatever god will have him.

XxX XxX

He makes it back with half an hour to sundown. A couple of furry things that look like miniature rats tied to his belt and a bucket full of bright purple things a little bigger than the grapes General Kenobi had given to the 212th once. A water bladder is thrown over his shoulder and he pauses before he makes it back up the hill to Rex, hefting it up in a quick readjustment.

Rex has a small fire going, and he looks better than he did when Cody left him. 

Cody sets down the water bladder and unties the rats, passing his bucket to Rex. "They’re fine. Had a couple when I found the tree. No adverse effects.“

"Idiot.” Rex snaps at him. "You know better than that.“ Cody’s mouth thins and he gives a shrug, settling down into a cross-legged position and pulling out a knife so he can gut and skin the rodents he caught.

"The chances of someone finding us here-” 

“I know. We got knocked off course.” Rex agrees to Cody doesn’t have to voice that thought. "Still. If you’re going to try strange new food, I’d prefer for you to do it here. No sense being any more stupid than you have to be.“

"Right.” Cody offers a little sneer and starts to sharpen a stick. "I forgot the CT units got all the stupid.“

"Sith fucker.” Rex mutters and throws a little purple fruit at Cody’s head. It gets snapped out of the air and Cody grins, popping the fruit between his teeth and letting the sweet juice fill his mouth.

He skewers one of the rodents and passes the stick to Rex, doing the same to the second creature, holding it out over the fire so it’ll roast. Hopefully they won’t get any sort of intestinal worms from doing this. Cody’s only had them once before and it’s not an experience he wants to repeat. Ever.

“Make sure that’s cooked through.” He tells Rex who nods, echoing Cody’s motions as he slowly turns the rodent over the flames. It’s not long before the smell of cooking meat fills the air and from off in the distance there’s a long, low howl that makes all the hair on Cody’s neck stand on end. 

“We’re sleeping in the ship tonight.” Rex says and Cody moves to sit beside him, so his back isn’t exposed to whatever made that noise.

“Agreed.”

XxX XxX

The first night passes uneventfully. An emergency blanket goes over the open side door and the two clones take turns sitting watch outside with the single working blaster they have between them. Morning comes quickly and they share the remaining fruit and water between them.

“Show me where you got the fruit.” Rex says and Cody nods, poking at the fire, which is little more than smouldering coals. There’s a couple of tracks around the dirt and Rex frowns at them for a moment before he unhooks his codpiece and undoes the privacy flap underneath it, urinating over the dirt.

“What are you doing?” Cody asks, raising an eyebrow and Rex shrugs.

“General Skywalker showed us this. Said it marks your place in the world so the locals know you’re not for eating.”

“Well. If General Skywalker said it, it must be a true thing.” Cody sighs it and unhooks his own codpiece, following Rex’s example. 

XxX XxX

They make their way a third of the way down the mountain to where Cody was the day earlier. Water flows straight up from a dark circle of rocks, and nearby there’s a copse of brushes carrying bunches of the same bright purple fruit.

“Where’d you get the rats?” Rex asks and Cody pauses from where he’s refilling the water bladder, pointing at a hole in one of the nearby trees.

“Careful. They almost bit through my gloves before I whacked ‘em.”

“Roger roger.” Rex says to get a disgusted eyeroll out of Cody and goes to see about getting some meat for the evening meal. 

He winds up with three rats of various sizes, a bird that he’d literally stepped on while making his way to the tree, and a bucket full of purple fruit. Cody walks beside him up the hill, two water bladders slung over his shoulder and a couple of twigs tucked into the belt holsters he never uses.

“So. Tomorrow we see about setting up a base camp?” Rex asks and Cody nods. "What about that-“

"No.” Cody shakes his head before Rex can finish his thought. "Bushes crammed with fruit and a fresh water source is going to have animals going to it day and night. Setting up camp there isn’t a good idea. It’s a half hour walk, and if we drag some of those logs up here, we can fortify the drop ship, make it safer.“

"Yeah, and if we fall going down the hill to get water one day, that’ll be it.” Rex points out. "We have a working blaster that’s carrying a full charge. That’s enough to last us six months if we only use it when we have to. Setting camp up here has it’s advantages, but it’s also got it’s disadvantages.“

"We’ll look at our options after we cook up those rats.” Cody offers and Rex grunts in agreement and concentrates on not slipping on the gravel that rolls under his feet with every step he takes.

XxX XxX

Over their evening meal, the two clones discuss where the best option to make camp is, and after nearly two hours of healthy debate, they both agree to stay at the ship for a few more days while they scout for a suitable location that suits them both.

Rex takes the first watch while Cody sleeps for a restless few hours, and when he wakes, they trade off. 

Rex is on the last hour of watch, the sun just starting to rise up, turning the black and grey shadows of the trees into emerald spires. It’s beautiful, in a wild way, and Rex finds himself smiling.

Cody pushes the emergency blanket out of the way, exiting the ship and carefully bending to crack his spine. "I never thought I’d say this, but I miss my cot.“

"I’d kill for some caff.” Rex shoots back and Cody groans at him.

“And here I was, hoping that if I just didn’t think of it, I’d be okay.” Rex grins and then looks off at the sunrise.

“It’s a pretty sight.” He says and Cody grunts, observing the scenery.

“I’d appreciate it more after sleeping on something softer than the floor in there and a steaming hot cup of caff.”

“And a kiss from General Kenobi.”

“Go fuck yourself, Vod.” Cody snaps, but he’s laughing and Rex grins up at him. "It’d be nice to have him here though. He’d probably be getting rescued by now. Jedi are important creatures.“

"You have a point there.” Rex says and pushes himself to his feet. He’s holding out for one more week, and if no one shows up for them, then that’ll be it. He and Cody will live out there days on this pretty, green rock, peaceful and quiet. With no war to touch them.

He’s not sure if he’s horrified by the idea or not. 

“Come on.” Cody offers him the last few swallows of water. "We need to get some breakfast and start the search for base camp.“

"You got it.” Rex nods and hooks the empty water bladder to his belt, following Cody down the hill.

XxX XxX

They don’t find anything that suits both of them that day, though they do head back up to the ship with a couple of what Rex has taken to calling fool birds for the fact that they won’t move until you’re right on top of them.

The fire that night is a steady heat source, but even with it, Cody is shivering in light little bursts that he probably thinks Rex doesn’t notice. “Cold?”

“A little.” Cody offers. "I keep thinking about-“ He cuts himself off and Rex sighs and nudges Cody’s shoulder with his own.

"You’re the Marshal Commander. They’ve got to be looking for you. You’re nearly the rank of a Jedi, Codes.”

“I’m still just a clone.” Cody says in a small voice. "They’ll be able to replace me easy enough.“

"No one in the entire galaxy can replace you.” Rex says with a certainty he feels all the way down into his bones. "They’re looking for you. General Kenobi is looking for you. He’s gotta be.“

"Yeah.” Cody offers with a smile he doesn’t at all feel, cold in the chest. 

“C'mere.” Rex unclips his chest armour and pats his pectorals through his blacks. "You’re still shivering.“ Cody doesn’t argue, just unclips his own armour and moves to sit in front of Rex, resting his back against Rex’s chest, feeling that familiar heart beating in time with his own.

"Kenobi’s a good man. A good Jedi.” Rex says, wrapping his arms around Cody’s chest. "He’s looking for you. He’s probably worried sick. He’s gonna find you.“

"Us.” Cody says firmly. "He’s gonna find us.“

"Yeah. That’s what I meant. He’s gonna find us.” Rex agrees, resting his chin on Cody’s shoulder and looking into the ever twisting flames. "He’s gonna find us, Codes. Just you watch.“


End file.
